Proelia's Beginnings -
Proelia started as a sport/game inside the world of Avalon, a novel series I am in the process of writing. Since being an author and an artist are extremely important to me, Proelia was the natural choice as my senior exhibition project. It afforded me the ability to just create, which is something that I found I really love doing. I got to create an entire game and I am extremely proud of how it turned out.
I started with a general list of rules. Once I was satisfied with them (and had gotten some great feedback from some people in the industry), I created a spreadsheet.
The spreadsheet was where I organized all of the different cards I would need and their various abilities, energy costs, spectrums, and more. It also helped me keep track of which cards were finished and if the card art was made.
Once that was done, I started sketching out some of the art I would need for the sprites (the figures that players move across the board). After the sketches were done, I would take them into Adobe Illustrator and create line art for them that would then be laser etched onto pieces of wood that would later become the sprite figure itself.
Below is some of the art I created for the sprite figures.
And this is a picture of what the sprite figures look like (digitally). The inside design is the etching from the laser while the outside line is the cut line. It shows the figure itself along with its designated element it is aligned with.
After the laser etching and cutting, the sprite figures looked like the examples below:
Proelia's Gameplay -
Proelia is a hybrid of a gameboard (called the arena in the game), sprite figures, and special cards used to attack each other. Each sprite comes with their own card that outlines their stats and their special attack and defensive abilities. In addition to these, players can use other cards called spell cards to directly attack opponents and trap cards that players can use to halt or stall an opponent's progress. The goal of the game is to use your sprites to eliminate your opponent's sprites. The player with at least one remaining sprite is the winner.
For the game, I designed a rule book that comes with it. It goes into more depth and detail on what I just described. Below is the cover and first page of that.
And this is the arena itself that players travel across to attack each other.
Below are some examples of the cards I designed to go with the game. A good majority of the art on the sprite cards was done by my long time friend, artist/illustrator Fredrick Allison Jr (@art.of.fredrick). He did an amazing job and his artwork looks great. I also had my niece, Cianna Petrae, create artwork for the Book of Spells trap card. I created the art for the spell cards, the trap cards, and five of the sprite cards. I also created the designs for each card, the logo, element icons, the arena/gameboard, and all marketing/retail/promotional materials.
The game I designed for my senior project also came with player and roster docks. These are boards where players can keep their cards and sprites organized. The retail version I developed that people can actually buy does not come with these, however. Here is an example of what those look like.
In addition to the physical pieces I created for the game, I also decided to add a little something more for my exhibit so I made these posters. These will be hung up on the wall next to the game itself. Each one is 12" x 18."
I ended up really enjoying this game and how it came out. When I was looking for vendors to print and produce the cards, I came across the company, The Game Crafter. It is a great place to get your idea made and I found out they actually give game designers the ability to sell their game right on their website. With that in mind, I decided to create a retail version of my game that people can actually go and purchase. The retail version is called The Fire v. Shadow Beginner's Kit. It gives you three fire sprites and three shadow sprites (each with their respective cards) and a very nice gameboard to play on. There is also a variety of spell and trap cards that come with it. Here are some of the retail designs I created for the game.
Proelia became such an obsession for me this semester. It was incredibly exhilarating to create a game completely from scratch. Along the way, I had a lot of help. I would like to thank Fredrick Allison Jr for creating a good majority of the sprite cards for me. I also want to thank my niece, Cianna as well. She did such a great job with the Book of Spells card. I also want to thank Kara Greenfield, Eli Beard, and Anthony Kizer for their invaluable assistance with their feedback on the game itself and letting me know what was working and what needed some improvement. I appreciate all the help you each gave me.
And here are some images from the exhibit itself. It is currently installed the OSU Urban Arts Space in downtown Columbus.
Proelia was an extremely fun project to work on and one that I will be continuing to work on in the future. I will be adding booster sprite packs along with continuing to develop and work on the gameplay.
Rustin Petrae
Also, to celebrate Proelia's completion, enjoy this free ditial poster. It can be printed at 11" x 14."
